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COVID-19 led to stay-in-place orders, school closures, and cancelation of events. Within university systems, the pandemic forced courses to transition from in-person to online platforms and required organizations to enforce social restrictions. Collegiate athletics was no different, with postponement of sport seasons and cancelation of championship tournaments. Although it has been argued that participation in collegiate athletics may mitigate some of the detrimental impacts of COVID-19 (Graupensperger et al., 2020), data collected by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA, 2021) suggests student-athletes are at-risk of mental health concerns stemming from COVID-19. In fact, college student-athletes have reported elevated mental health concerns throughout COVID-19 than before its onset (NCAA, 2021). The current study examined the relationships between the impact of COVID-19, mental wellbeing, and resilience among college student-athletes during the pandemic.
Method
During fall 2020, college student-athletes (n=218) representing nine universities from a NCAA Division I athletic conference participated in the study. The majority identified as female (n=163) and were an average of 21 years old (SD=1.3). All conference-sponsored sports were represented, including track/field (n=53), swimming/diving (n=32), and soccer (n=26).
Ordinary least squares and hierarchical linear regression analyses examined associations between the impact of COVID-19 (Vanaken et al., 2020), resilience (Smith et al., 2008), and mental wellbeing (Tennant et al., 2007). Mediation analyses examined indirect effects of negative cognitions patterns on wellbeing. Analyses were conducted using SPSS v28.
Results
Linear regression analyses revealed that student-athletes displayed a negative relationship between intrusive thoughts about COVID-19 and resilience, such that as intrusive thoughts increased, overall resilience decreased (p=.013). Although higher resilience scores were associated with improved mental wellbeing (p<.001), both intrusive thoughts and avoidance thinking about COVID-19 were associated with decreased mental wellbeing (p<.001).
To examine the impact of resilience on wellbeing—over and above the effect of intrusive thoughts and avoidance of COVID-19—a hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted. When considered together, avoidance is no longer significantly related to wellbeing, while intrusive thoughts were associated with decreased wellbeing (p<.001). As a second block in the regression, resilience still has a positive significant relationship with wellbeing despite the negative impact of intrusive thoughts (p<.001).
Finally, the PROCESS macro was used to determine whether resilience displayed a mediation effect on the relationship between intrusive thoughts and wellbeing. A partial mediation effect was detected, whereby resilience significantly lessened the negative effect of intrusive thoughts about COVID-19 on mental wellbeing (p<.001)
Implications
Prior research indicated that COVID-19 had a moderate impact on the daily lives of college student-athletes (i.e., athletics, social life, mental health) and was significantly related to psychological distress (Newman et al., 2023). However, student-athletes—in part because of skills learned from sport participation—may develop resilience when faced with challenges (Graupensperger et al., 2020). Findings may inform mental health education and resources offered by sport social workers, particularly those embedded within university athletic. For instance, sport social workers should focus efforts to enhance student-athlete resilience, which may be promoted through relationship building, fostering holistic wellness, and developing help-seeking behaviors (Palmiter et al., 2020).